Interview: The Orphan, The Poet

Posted June 8, 2012 by shooting in Uncategorized / 12 Comments

The Orphan, The Poet
All Questions Answered by David
Interview by: Lauren
Add them on facebook
Buy their music/merch

1. Your EP, An Exercise in Form, was released May 15 and includes all acoustic songs. What about acoustic do you feel works for you as a band?

 For our previous 2 releases, we’d been very fortunate to work with some very talented producers that really captured our full band well. For this project, however, we really wanted to show a different side to who we are as a band and reinvent songs that our fans already knew. Thus, we bought some recording gear, holed up in Jared and I’s house, and arranged and recorded the EP ourselves, calling in a few favors from friends when we needed.

2. The band name is the Orphan, the Poet…so what poets are you all fans of (from a literature standpoint and/or a lyrical one)?
 
As for literary inspiration, I’ve always been a fan of Thoreau and Emerson. I remember first reading their works growing up and instantly feeling a connection to their ideas. I’d venture to say that some of my introspective tendencies may stem from this.
Dustin Kensrue, of the band Thrice
As for lyrical influence, Dustin Kensrue is probably an obvious one. I think he balances the concrete and the abstract masterfully, and that’s something I strive to do better. Beyond this, I’ve been trying to be more connected to pop oriented lyricists. There is a simplicity that a pop song has to possess and honestly, simplicity is probably one of the hardest things to master.

3. Starting out, early fans can really make a band’s experience. Any particular stories you have regarding your own fans? What is the biggest way fans can help you all out if they like your music?
 
Our fans are amazing. They’ve done everything from running social media contests for us, to donating to our kickstarter fundraising, to preparing entire 3 course italian dinners for us while we’re on the road.

Honestly, the best thing someone can do to help us out is word of mouth promotion. Tell your friends about us and don’t stop telling them about us until they listen 🙂


4. You made an awesome video for your song, Invincible. Who came up with the storyboard, and did you want to convey something in particular?
 
The concept for that video was developed by our Director, Nathan William. I had a few conversations with him about the song–what inspired it and the message–and that’s the vision that came to him. He literally had the entire video put together in his mind before he ever touched a camera. I like that type of visionary creativity.

I think the video is really cohesive with the meaning behind the song. It’s about realization and personal growth through hardship. He captured the ideas of love and loss perfectly with his lens.

5. As someone who personally lives right outside Ohio, what makes your home state so wonderful and/or finish this sentece: Ohio is for…
 
Ohio is pretty rad. A lot of times people like to complain about where they’re from, but honestly, I’m thankful to come from a state with so many talented up and coming bands. Having to keep pace with our friends in Wolves At The Gate, Belle Histoire, & Come Wind really makes us keep our nose to the grind. I love it!

6. You started touring on May 18. What does a show/tour consist of for you all?
We just got back from our tour with Ocean Is Theory and Mike Mains & the Branches. We had an amazing time and already miss those guys!

Every tour is different, but highlights from this last tour include:

-Drew and I spending 3 hours under the bus installing a new starter mid-tour.
-Snake hunting on our day off in Georgia

-And of course all the new amazing people we met!

~~~
I hope you enjoyed the interview! I’d love to know what you thought, so please leave a comment below. If you’d like to check out the band’s music, I’d recommend starting with their song Invincible…check out their official video below.

12 responses to “Interview: The Orphan, The Poet

  1. Amazing interview!!! Love that it's a band interview and one that's new to me. I'm listening to the youtube clip as I'm typing this and quite like them 😀

  2. I've honestly never heard of this band before, but it's so cool that you got the chance to interiew them! Very interesting to read and watch the video. The guys are pretty cute too! 😉 Thanks for sharing

  3. Please excuse my watering mouth at the mention of a 3 course Italian dinner — I LOVE Italian food! My first though was pineapple pizza, but I'm sure you mean something more fancy than that LOL :') Anyways, I love the sound of this band! I never knew Ohio was home to such awesome talent 🙂

    Love this band interview, Lauren! It's the first one I've ever read, but I'm totally looking forward to the next one now! <3

  4. Wow awesome that you got to do a band interview! I just listened to them and well, they've got a new fan! Love this kind of music!

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.